Coronavirus

[SoGA Fan Club]

Looks like I’ll be teleworking for a few weeks as all “non-critical” European Commission staff are ordered to work from home.

And I heard Belgium might be going lockdown, so started with my panic buying!

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Only thing I would change is switching out Duvel for Chimay. Other than that, great choices.

 

[Cherry Wine]

So this thread has made me some money (short Toyota via puts) and its time I give back a little with some info.

I live in Georgia. We have 31 cases total in Georgia currently, most in the Atlanta area, some a little further north and elsewhere. The point of my post is that I'm finally starting to see some responsible response to this issue. My church is seriously considering canceling services and going to online only. As of even two days ago this would have been considered crazy, and now it has been presented to the board and likely to pass.

Secondly, a local private college is closing its campus for the remainder of the school year, with all classes online, and everyone in the dorm required to go home.

These are both institutions that literally a handful of days ago would never even have thought it possible that they would be doing this so soon, but they are. Which means responsible adults are starting to come out of the woodwork and make the right decisions to protect everyone around them.

This means that perhaps the virus will be contained sooner rather than later and the market will not be hit as hard longer term as I feared, despite the complete incompetence in the Whitehouse as demonstrated by last nights address to the nation.

As inept as the governmental response has been, I have been encouraged by the measures taken independently by US businesses and people in general. Unfortunately I think Italy has been an example of what can happen if you don't take this disease seriously, and it has opened people's eyes.

Speaking of Italy, the data out of there today indicate 2,651 new cases and 189 deaths, with 213 recoveries. Really great dashboard on Italy data here.

 

[Nocturnal]

What Congress should be doing is passing an emergency bill that will provide guaranteed pay for anyone who needs to take off work because they contracted the virus. This would slow the spread and bolster the economy at the same time. Instead these idiots are arguing about payroll tax cuts.

As inept as the governmental response has been, I have been encouraged by the measures taken independently by US businesses and people in general. Unfortunately I think Italy has been an example of what can happen if you don't take this disease seriously, and it has opened people's eyes.

Speaking of Italy, the data out of there today indicate 2,651 new cases and 189 deaths, with 213 recoveries. Really great dashboard on Italy data here.

Of course. We are basically on our own.

 

[VValleyEV]

I have not watched much Joe Rogan, but just watched this interview with Michael Osterholm and found it very helpful:

Lots of background on virus history and straight talk about what we can and cannot do, and what looks like a good book from the guy, which I purchased just now:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZFB5EW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some tidbits from the podcast (haven’t read the book yet), much common sense:

1. The virus will spread exponentially, we can’t stop it, closing borders won’t help much, but we can slow it down, and of course that is critical with finite medical facilities (the thing so many folks are missing)
   
2. At 10x fatality rate over annual flu, we are in for some challenging times. The data we have says that this will go on for months and we will have fatality in the US many times a normally flu season.
3. Some shared conversations with physicians in Italy, which went from a handful of cases to crisis in weeks. Confirmation of what we have all heard, that hospital facilities are overwhelmed, physicians have to leave some untreated even thought they will likely die. Physicians treating CVD are asked to continue doing so even after they get sick.
4. Hand washing and hand sanitizers both are helpful, as is avoiding touching your face, but the primary vector is simply breathing, which we can’t avoid.
5. Surgical masks don’t protect you at all, only designed to keep your cough from infecting a nearby patient undergoing surgery.
6. Face masks help a lot in minimizing transmission from you to someone else, less so in protecting you.
7. Correlation for higher fatality rate beyond age include smoking and obesity. I am wondering whether the latter makes the US more vulnerable.
8. Closing schools is a difficult call. Data says kids don’t get symptoms but can easily spread it to their parents. But keeping them home may mean day care problems for their parents who may be health care professionals that we really need.
9. What we need, and have needed for years, is stockpiles of basic stuff like face masks, antibiotics (helpful for secondary infections), all generic medical supplies that can be stockpiled, ongoing development of vaccines for coronavirus family in general, etc etc.
10. Some asides: hot saunas do not protect you from flu infection. All studies fail to show help from probiotics, either in the short or long term. Great stuff later on about unique conditions in China, their food chain and population density, and also stuff about Lyme’s disease, how it most likely originally came from the northern Midwest US, how it got to the east and why it is worse there. Intriguing stuff about deer carrying disease to Moose, climate change and lack of forest fires making that worse.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

I have not watched much Joe Rogan, but just watched this interview with Michael Osterholm and found it very helpful:

Lots of background on virus history and straight talk about what we can and cannot do, and what looks like a good book from the guy, which I purchased just now:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZFB5EW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some tidbits from the podcast (haven’t read the book yet), much common sense:

1. The virus will spread exponentially, we can’t stop it, closing borders won’t help much, but we can slow it down, and of course that is critical with finite medical facilities (the thing so many folks are missing)
   
2. At 10x fatality rate over annual flu, we are in for some challenging times. The data we have says that this will go on for months and we will have fatality in the US many times a normally flu season.
3. Some shared conversations with physicians in Italy, which went from a handful of cases to crisis in weeks. Confirmation of what we have all heard, that hospital facilities are overwhelmed, physicians have to leave some untreated even thought they will likely die. Physicians treating CVD are asked to continue doing so even after they get sick.
4. Hand washing and hand sanitizers both are helpful, as is avoiding touching your face, but the primary vector is simply breathing, which we can’t avoid.
5. Surgical masks don’t protect you at all, only designed to keep your cough from infecting a nearby patient undergoing surgery.
6. Face masks help a lot in minimizing transmission from you to someone else, less so in protecting you.
7. Correlation for higher fatality rate beyond age include smoking and obesity. I am wondering whether the latter makes the US more vulnerable.
8. Closing schools is a difficult call. Data says kids don’t get symptoms but can easily spread it to their parents. But keeping them home may mean day care problems for their parents who may be health care professionals that we really need.
9. What we need, and have needed for years, is stockpiles of basic stuff like face masks, antibiotics (helpful for secondary infections), all generic medical supplies that can be stockpiled, ongoing development of vaccines for coronavirus family in general, etc etc.
10. Some asides: hot saunas do not protect you from flu infection. All studies fail to show help from probiotics, either in the short or long term. Great stuff later on about unique conditions in China, their food chain and population density, and also stuff about Lyme’s disease, how it most likely originally came from the northern Midwest US, how it got to the east and why it is worse there. Intriguing stuff about deer carrying disease to Moose, climate change and lack of forest fires making that worse.

I just watched this earlier today and it is an outstanding talk. Rogan had a really knowledgeable professor guy on and he let the guy talk for more than 1 hour and 30 minutes. Everyone should watch this.

I'm a fan of Rogan's podcast btw, you should watch his Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang episodes. They are both really good.

 

[EVNow]

Speaking of Italy, the data out of there today indicate 2,651 new cases and 189 deaths, with 213 recoveries. Really great dashboard on Italy data here.

2651 confirmed of 12,857 tests. More than 20%. In comparison WA has confirmation rate of slightly less than 10%.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

BTW the professor dude talked about cytokine storms. I've known about this a long time, it's what kills otherwise healthy people who have minor respiratory infections. It's also why Cold-Eeze is sold out everywhere. Zinc glycine gluconate is believed to help reduce the symptoms of colds and flus because it actually blunts the immune response. For a minor, non-fatal viral infection, you don't want TOO MUCH immune response. I also keep a box of Cold-Eeze around and pop them when I get a sore throat or something. I didn't buy another box before this started blowing up though so I need to be careful with the box I have.

 

[Paracelsus]

There is a short video in this Tweet and here is the link to it since I still can't figure out how to post anything from Twitter on TMC:

Rep. Katie Porter on Twitter

 

[bkp_duke]

So know how most here hate Fox News, so please try to look past the source and read the original sources in the article:
Inside China's high-stakes campaign to smear the United States over coronavirus

Chinese claiming the US Gov released COVID-19 in Wuhan? That's a big claim, better come with some pretty conclusive evidence to back that one up.

 

[replicant]

France closes schools, maintain elections (next Sundays), keep public transport, ask companies to work remotely.

 

[KSilver2000]

BTW the professor dude talked about cytokine storms. I've known about this a long time, it's what kills otherwise healthy people who have minor respiratory infections. It's also why Cold-Eeze is sold out everywhere. Zinc glycine gluconate is believed to help reduce the symptoms of colds and flus because it actually blunts the immune response. For a minor, non-fatal viral infection, you don't want TOO MUCH immune response. I also keep a box of Cold-Eeze around and pop them when I get a sore throat or something. I didn't buy another box before this started blowing up though so I need to be careful with the box I have.

Just FYI for others, Cold-Eeze is just a brand of Zincum Gluconicum. There’s a lot of other manufacturers and brands with this ingredient, including Amazon basic Elements. I have a bottle of Amazon Elements Zinc with Elderberry and it cost only 10% of what Cold-Eeze cost per tablet (same amount of zinc). The unfortunate part is, even all these generics at various retailers are sold out basically.

 

[EVNow]

Working paper on WA estimated deaths ...

 

[EVNow]

So know how most here hate Fox News, so please try to look past the source and read the original sources in the article:
Inside China's high-stakes campaign to smear the United States over coronavirus

Chinese claiming the US Gov released COVID-19 in Wuhan? That's a big claim, better come with some pretty conclusive evidence to back that one up.

Its a two-way street.

Jeet Heer on Twitter

Many of you don't speak wingnut and so will be puzzled by Cotton's remarks. Let me translate: Cotton is alluding to the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab a bioweapon.

Sen. Tom Cotton release this morning: "We will emerge stronger from this challenge, we will hold accountable those who inflicted it on the world." What does that mean?​

​

 

[Nocturnal]

Fiat Chrysler worker tests positive for coronavirus

This will be a preview of what may happen at Tesla factories.

Working paper on WA estimated deaths ...

It's so bad even your link is dead.

 

[mblakele]

How deadly is the new coronavirus?

[...]

A conclusive measure of the denominator requires testing for antibodies against the virus in a large sample of people in a place which an outbreak has already swept through. Such studies are under way in China. In the meantime, researchers have estimated the fatality rate for covid-19 using a cohort of people for whom there is a full count of infections and deaths: passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. A bungled quarantine on board led to nearly 700 cases of covid-19. Eight people have died so far. A working paper published on March 5th by Timothy Russell of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an international team of researchers estimates that the fatality rate among infected passengers will end up being 1.2%.​

 

[KSilver2000]

Just announced that a firefighter in Santa Clara County tested positive. So, now >50 are being quarantined throughout the department. So, who’s responding to 911? Just a tiny preview of what it’s like in Italy right now, I guess.

 

[linux-works]

What Congress should be doing is passing an emergency bill that will provide guaranteed pay for anyone who needs to take off work because they contracted the virus. This would slow the spread and bolster the economy at the same time. Instead these idiots are arguing about payroll tax cuts.

better than that - penalties to companies if they are shown that they took profits over worker's health.

in fact, don't even sunset that one. keep that one around.

we (as a world) could really make a positive from this, once we get past the worst part. we could ALL understand, now, that the tide rises or falls for all boats, rich and poor. that poor or middle class person who is sick - he puts you at risk, no matter who you are or how well off you are. this is a clear and resounding call for universal health care and magnitudes of orders increase in spending in this. we could fix so many things if we put our priorities here.

workers are forced to work, sick or not and its been this way since, well, forever. we could use this opportunity to change that.

 

[Dr. J]

Federal regulation? I’m confused, China and S Korea have a standard WHO test kit. The fed govt contracted instead to buy from a former Trump owned company for the tests. What does this have to do with regulation? The rest of the world has 4 hour tests, we have a corrupt team still not focused on solving the problem and thinking about economic stimulus for people who may be locked in their homes.

Ask the guys I was responding to.

 

[Dr. J]

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There is a short video in this Tweet and here is the link to it since I still can't figure out how to post anything from Twitter on TMC:

Rep. Katie Porter on Twitter

WOWSER!

 

[Tslynk67]

Someone got their priority right.

Mental health and Keeping sane in mandatory quarantine is important so you don't end up becoming a knife wielding wacko being chased by police.

I am surprised, I don't see empty shelves of beer being posted online out of all this frenzy.

Not in this country you won't, then there would be riots!

Just to be sure, I went back to the supermarket and got a few more...

Can't be too careful in these difficult times...